Attendees at the San Diego Regional Urban Forest Council’s videoconference on May 6 recommended that a letter be sent to mayors, City councilmembers, and others about municipal tree maintenance funding. Letter was sent on May 26 and focuses on the following key points:
- Tree maintenance keeps trees healthy and reduces city liabilities.
- Trees cool cities, as climate changes accelerate.
- Trees will buffer the next health and environmental
Notes from early May, 2020:
Please take time to advocate for trees and urban forest management, in the City of San Diego’s budget hearings! The severe budget proposals include eliminating $1.8 million for shade tree and palm trimming, and are likely to be sustained, but the importance of tree health to neighborhoods, parks, urban cooling, and public health must be heard.
Climate change is bigger than the pandemic and accelerating, and trees will still cool cities. Healthy street and park trees are valuable city assets, and need annual investments in tree care and planting.
FIVE WAYS TO SUPPORT URBAN TREES:
- Write clear messages now–in your own words, personalized from suggested messages. Keep them to three points, with only 1-2 sentences after each point. The email messages have a limit of 200 words, and the phone-in testimony is likely to be one minute.
- Submit comments, at process for submitting comments . Comments received by 5:45 p.m. will be distributed to the Committee and posted online with the meeting materials. All webform comments are limited to 200 words. Process requests date of meeting and item number (see 5. below). Comments submitted for April 30 hearing 368 examples!
- Submit your messages by 5:45 on the days before the department budget hearings, tailoring comments to the role of trees in each (parks, climate action, and street trees).
- Parks on Tuesday 9 am-Item 3, Sustainability (Climate Action), Tuesday 2 pm-Item 11, and Transportation, Wednesday, 9 am-Item 3, Capital Improvement Projects, Wed. 2 pm-Item 9 Budget committee agendas
- Provide phone call testimony during the individual budget hearings, after the Clerk introduces the item and opens the Public Comment line, likely limited to one minute. Then follow the steps outlined at phone call procedure .
- Send additional-duplicate messages to your council member or ALL of the councilmembers directly, as six of them recommended budget increases for tree-related programs (in their January council memos). Addresses: barbarabry@sandiego.gov, chriscate@sandiego.gov, christopherward@sandiego.gov, georgettegomez@sandiego.gov, jennifercampbell@sandiego.gov, markkersey@sandiego.gov, monicamontgomery@sandiego.gov, scottsherman@sandiego.gov, vivianmoreno@sandiego.gov
SOME MESSAGES:
- Trees in parks and streets are assets that cool cities, contribute to public health, and provide “green” stormwater and other ecosystem services. Trees are investments in climate adaptation and carbon sequestration, as we know that climate change is accelerating and far bigger than the pandemic. This will require sustained budgets to maintain existing trees and plant healthy trees.
- The proposed reduction for tree trimming is $1.8 million, and will eliminate maintenance of shade trees and extend palm trimming to 8 years. Both are unacceptable. Tree planting must continue to implement the City’s climate action plan, at least $300,000 per year. There is a backlog of 1,800 tree requests and the yearly budget of $100K will only plant 600 trees.
- Covid-19 is showing us how quickly health and economic impacts can result from natural causes. Climate change has been slow and sometimes unnoticed, but there are high risks for extended heat waves, storm-related disasters, drought and wildfires. Disadvantaged communities will be more vulnerable to health and economic impacts, and far less prepared than advantaged communities. Trees, parks, shade, and urban cooling will give respite to all city dwellers in future climate change.
- This is not the time to disregard the nature that sustains us. If tree maintenance is cancelled for a year, the effects of drought, pests, and tree failure multiply. The next natural disaster may seem like a surprise, but healthy trees will be there to serve San Diegans.
- [there are more than 200 words, so choose and edit!]
RESOURCES:
- This year, the City has assembled a great page of budget process details . There are schedules for budget hearings, ways to participate, and links to each department.
- Budget hearings can be watched live
- Budget page, https://www.sandiego.gov/finance/proposed , Attachment II has the key numbers, but there are no department-level budget documents yet. Transportation = reduce 0 urban forestry positions (4 horticulturalists and 8 tree care workers, currently all filled)), reduce contractual services by $1,217,000 for shade tree trimming and $600,000 for palm trimming. Park and Recreation, reduce 89 positions, reduce $5.9 million contract funds.
- Independent Budget Analyst report , 4/29/20. Page 162, Transportation Department: “The largest reduction is for tree trimming at $1.8 million. This reduction will negate the City’s ability to do all routine maintenance of shade trees throughout the City and will effectively increase the cycle of routine palm tree maintenance from 2 years to 8 years. The Department will mostly be able to conduct only reactive and emergency trimming.”
- San Diego Union-Tribune 4/16/20 article on FY 2021 budget gap, “Tree trimming, which had already been limited to palms-only during a previous budget cut, would be limited to emergency situations only. The savings would be $1.8 million.”
- Resources for writing comments include tree benefits , tree benefits , trees and climate action